Marcus Martin Center of Attention at 49ers Minicamp

Daniel Kilgore is San Francisco's presumptive starter at the position, but Martin, even at age 20, is hoping to open eyes at this weekend's rookie minicamp.

Jim Harbaugh is fond of saying that all of his players have "the license" to compete for starting spots.

"It applies to everybody," the San Francisco 49ers coach said at the start of the team's rookie minicamp on Friday.

Harbaugh was also talking about center Marcus Martin specifically. The 49ers third-round NFL Draft pick will see his first extended action on the practice fields in Santa Clara this weekend.

"Right now," Harbaugh said, "he's the understudy. That's the expectation we put on him, to learn, to get up to speed as fast as possible and put no timetable to it."

San Francisco has relative veteran Daniel Kilgore as the presumptive starter at center. He backed up departed free agent Jonathan Goodwin each of the last three seasons.

"I'm coming in to compete," Martin said. "I'm learning as much as I can from Kilgore and the rest of the offensive line.

"Anthony Davis, Joe Staley, those are guys that are here everyday talking to me, encouraging me to keep my head up. I'm glad I have those guys around."

Davis, in particular, can relate to the USC product. He entered the NFL at age 21 in 2010. Martin is still just 20 entering his first minicamp.

"One thing Anthony emphasized is age doesn't have anything to do with your ability to play on the field," Martin said. "His birthday is in October. Mine is in November. He told me, 'Don't worry about your age. Just come in and compete.' That's what I'm worried about."

Martin added that he has seen similarities to the offense he ran in the Pac-12 to that of Harbaugh and his staff here. He'll be playing center and both guard positions this weekend.